FanShot

CJ Vault on Elite Eights Past

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Crawford posted pregame stories on recent Elite Eights for both Louisville and UK. The 2005 write-up for us is worth a read -- I had forgotten how much personal tragedy the members of that team had experienced. Despite the disappointments of the actual games, the 2008 and 2009 write-ups are worth a read as well. I can't deny feeling a little nostalgic and sad for the 08/09 teams today; that group deserved a Final Four, and they caught some tough breaks in coming up just short in back-to-back years. Padgett, T-Will, Andre, Earl, Palacios -- I can't explain how much I enjoyed watching the development of each of those players over 3-4 years, and I wouldn't trade it for the phenom frosh of UK. Those teams will always be among my all-time favorites. In particular, seeing T-Will and Andre go from the first-year NIT all the way to the #1 overall seed as seniors was pretty damn special. Thanks for the memories, guys.